As I mentioned in the about section of the page, this group is an attempt to increase the awareness of regular Australians concerning the distorting effect large blocks of money (i.e. corporations and the wealthy) have on our democracy. The articles and commentary I have posted so far are little pieces in the overall puzzle. A lot of them are kind of geeky, technical or philosophical, so its understandable if people find it hard or not particularly interesting to engage with this stuff. What Im hoping to do is eventually write an accessible article summing all this stuff up. For the time being, I really want to just get the articles and concepts gathered together on the page, so when the time comes, all the info is there for both myself and you. Heres a short summary that incorporates what Ive posted so far: An economic idea about free markets has morphed into a social policy called neoliberalism. This policy actively seeks to encourage and reward those with the most money and power in society. I.e. career politicians, corporations, and the wealthy - because they are seen as more deserving of subsidies and welfare. Its no surprise that the encouragement and rewarding have grown and grown over the years, as it is a self-fulfilling cycle. Neoliberalism promotes wider inequality between the haves and have-nots (by destroying the middle class - i.e. regular Australians), and reduced employment security. As the inequality gap grows, so too does the power gap between the top and the rest. As the power gap grows, so too does the inequality gap. Rinse and repeat. Even aside from the un-sustainability of the *economic* system that neoliberalism promotes, its clear that such a *social* system is unsustainable too. Its also clear from surveys that Australians want a more open and fair democracy. The problem is, how to achieve this when policy making is trapped in this never-ending self-serving cycle that is neoliberalism.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 04:24:49 +0000
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